Nelson's Sharp-tailed Sparrow

Ammodramus nelsoni

Order PASSERIFORMES - Family EMBERIZIDAE

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1. Cool Facts
2. Description
3. Similar Species
4. Sound
5. Range
6. Habitat
7. Food
8. Behavior
9. Reproduction
10. Conservation Status
11. Other Names

A secretive sparrow with a brightly-colored face, the Nelson's Sharp-tailed Sparrow breeds along the edges of freshwater marshes and in wet meadows of interior North America, and in salt marshes along the northern Atlantic Coast.

Cool Facts

• The Nelson's Sharp-tailed Sparrow formerly was considered the same species as the Saltmarsh Sharp-tailed Sparrow, collectively known as the Sharp-tailed Sparrow. The two forms have separate breeding ranges that barely overlap in Maine. They differ in genetics, songs, and subtle plumage characters.

Description

• Size: 11-13 cm (4-5 in)
• Wingspan: 20 cm (8 in)
• Weight: 19-21 g (0.67-0.74 ounces)

• Small, stocky songbird.
• Orange-yellow face.
• Gray ear patch.
• Smudgy streaks on breast and flanks.
• Short, rounded tail with pointed tail feathers.

• Head flat.
• Nape gray.
• Black-and-white or dull streaks down back.
• Crown gray.

Sex Differences

Sexes look alike.

Immature

Juvenile orangish all over, with a few black streaks on sides of chest.

Similar Species

• Saltmarsh Sharp-tailed Sparrow very similar, but has whiter chest with crisp dark streaks on chest and sides.
• Seaside Sparrow larger, grayer, less strongly marked, with small yellow patch in front of eyes.
• Savannah Sparrow has striped head and notched tail.
• Le Conte's Sparrow with white central crown stripe, purplish spots and streaks on nape, and small grayish face patch.

Sound

Song a steady hissing buzz.

»listen to songs of this species

Range

Summer Range

Breeds across central Canada southward to South Dakota and Minnesota, along southern Hudson Bay, and along coast from Quebec to Maine.

Winter Range

Winters along Atlantic Coast from New York to Florida, and along Gulf Coast from Florida to Texas.

Habitat

Freshwater marshes and wet meadows in interior and brackish marshes along coast; in winter in salt and brackish marshes.

Food

Insects, spiders, snails, and seeds.

Behavior

Foraging

Forages on ground in dense grass or edges of shallow pools.

Reproduction

Nest Type

Open cup of grass stems and blades, lined with finer grass blades and sometimes built up on sides to form partial covering.

Egg Description

Greenish, covered with dark speckles.

Clutch Size

2-6 eggs.

Condition at Hatching

Helpless.

Conservation Status

Common.

Other Names

Bruant de Nelson (French)
Sharp-tailed Sparrow (in part) (English)

Sources used to construct this page:

Greenlaw, J. S. and J. D. Rising. 1994. Sharp-tailed Sparrow (Ammodramus caudacutus ). In The Birds of North America, No. 112 (A. Poole and F. Gill, Eds.). Philadelphia: The Academy of Natural Sciences; Washington, D.C.: The American Ornithologists? Union.